


Protect me, please?

by Lxcekitty



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Anxiety, Attempt at Humor, Crackhead behaviour, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Happy Halloween, Haunted Houses, Hurt/Comfort, Kim Seungmin-centric, M/M, Multi, Ot9 stray kids, Panic Attacks, Polyamory, Protective Hyungs, try and guess thier costumes lol, unedited So forgive my illiteracy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 20:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21259154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lxcekitty/pseuds/Lxcekitty
Summary: After weeks of planning the nights finally here but Seungmin can’t help but feel anxious about the whole ordeal despite his members excitement, luckily they’re there to catch his fall.





	Protect me, please?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I hate this piece of work so pls comment if you acc like it. Just to let yall know this was originally part of my other ot9 series but I decided to leave it as a stand alone fic that’s unrelated so yeah!! also if you’re reading this on October 31st Happy Halloween!!
> 
> Also I just want to say that I live vicariously through Minho in this fix so pls enjoy!

There’s a buzz about the dorm and Seungmin has to stop himself from outright laughing as he listens to Hyunjin, Jeongin and Jisung try to come up with Halloween costume ideas for the upcoming holiday. 

“Why don’t you just be a prince?” Jisung sighs as he gives up, resigning to sitting on the floor, his back leaning against his and Hyunjin’s bed. 

“Its meant to be scary, Hyung,” Jeongin drawls, rolling his eyes as he continues to root through one of their many clothing draws. 

“Fine, be a dead prince then!” Jisung flails his arms around dramatically and it takes everything in Seungmin to not laugh at his two boyfriends’ overdramatics and when his eyes meet Hyunjin’s in the mirror where he's draping a blanket over himself like a cape, its clear to see he’s struggling just as much as Seungmin to keep his laughter at bay. 

“What about an area 51 alien?” Felix lazily pipes up from where he's sitting next to Seungmin and before he knows it his restraint breaks into a million pieces and he’s cackling onto Felix’s shoulder gasping and wheezing at the whole ridiculousness of this situation they’ve somehow found themselves in, the other boys look between themselves for a moment but ending up laughing along, soft and fond giggles turning into breathless wheezes.

Usually, due to their Idol lifestyles and limited spare time the boys had always been too exhausted to even consider celebrating Halloween like the rest of Seoul did. But fortunately this year, due to the maknae line’s insistence, they’d decided to do something and visit a haunted house instead of just spending it at home watching scary movies and sleeping through the holiday like they normally did. Seungmin and Felix had been delighted at the idea and spent hours online trying to find the best things to do in Seoul during Halloween and had come up with more than a few ideas that would probably last them for the next year or two. It’d been hard to cut it down into just one or two things to do after Chan saw the list and told them there was no way they’d be able to do all of that in one night, so together with the help of Minho and Woojin they’d managed to cut their itinerary down to just the haunted house and maybe the famous street parade if they still had time to spare. 

“What's so funny?” Chan asks as he peeks his head around the door to the maknae’s room, he’d just gotten home from the studio, for once not in the middle of the night, probably due to Woojin and Minho’s insistence. Seungmin couldn't help but admire his dark circles, smudged make-up and frizzy unbrushed hair, he thought that Chan looked gorgeous, if only he slept a little more but he understood that Chan was trying his best to fix that. 

“Chan-Hyung, you’re home!” Hyunjin says excitedly as he hops up from the heap of laughter that’s sprawled across bedroom floor and dances over to pull the older further into the room, “we’re trying to think of Halloween costumes but we have no good ideas,” 

“Oh I see,” Chan smiles and walks further into the room, settling himself on Jeongin’s bed next to Seungmin as he leans his head on his shoulder softly, “let’s get deciding then,”

* * *

Days pass and Seungmin finds himself fiddling with the hem of his black hoodie as he sits on their couch waiting for everyone to get ready for their highly anticipated night out. They’d somehow managed to beg their managers to let them have the night and day after cleared of schedules so they could celebrate properly, without the burden of cameras and idol statuses getting in the way, for one night only they were free to do as they liked and the boys were beyond excited. 

Seungmin forces down his increasing smirk each time one of his boyfriends walks past decked out in their overdone but impressive Halloween makeup, each one looking more and more ridiculous than the previous one but Seungmin finds himself loving it. 

“What the hell are you supposed to be?” Seungmin scrutinises as he shamelessly eyes Changbin up and down when he walks in, dark makeup on his eyes making him look extremely attractive as he glares playfully at Seungmin. 

“A bat, what else?” he answers like it's obvious as he gestures to the tiny black wings that are attached to his back, but Seungmin can't stop his eyes from trailing down to the boys black leather pants and he feels a steady blush rising to his cheeks. He forces himself to look away knowing that if he doesn't his pale makeup won't hide how he’s feeling. 

“Looks good,” Seungmin says once he’s torn his eyes away, hoping that he sounded unbothered but knows he's failing by the way Changbin chuckles and sits beside him, pressing himself as close to the younger boy as possible without sitting in his lap. 

“You’re cute for a grim reaper, y’know,” Changbin whispers to him as he trails a light finger over his collarbone and laughs loudly when Seungmin shoves him away and pulls the hood of his cape further over his head, successfully hiding the quickly reddening tips of his ears but Changbin doesn't need to see them to know they’re almost glowing in embarrassment. 

Thankfully Changbin lets up his teasing when Jeongin and Woojin enter and sit beside them, each of them looking just as gorgeous as Changbin in their costumes that they’d all but far too much effort into looking as close to perfect as they could manage.

Chan’s the last to arrive, and Seungmin can't help but smile as he watches the way he shrinks away shyly under the expectant gaze of everyone else in the room, each smiling to themselves as they can't stop but stare at their leader's attire. 

“You guys look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” he jokes trying to ease the attention away from himself. 

“Funny Hyung,” Jeongin tries not to smile from the corner of the room where the boy is dressed up as an actual ghost and the rest can't stop themselves from laughing. 

“You look hot Hyung,” Minho bites his lip as he adjusts his pirate hat, “might have to steal some of that booty for myself,” 

Chan rolls his eyes but can't help but smirk as he eyes the last seat available, right next to Felix but chooses to sit in Minho’s lap instead, the boy's face lighting up a bright red that matches his flared velvet coat.

It's getting dark outside as the day draws to a close and Seungmin hates that he’s not excited at the thought that they’d be leaving soon and heading to the scariest haunted house in the city that Seungmin, Hyunjin and Felix had researched it for hours to find. Seungmin can't bring himself to be excited, no matter how hard he tries, instead waves of anxiety start to bloom in his chest and he can't seem to push them away like he normally does. Seungmin half-listens as Chan talks about their plans for the evening, consisting mainly of the haunted house, eating far too many sweet things and maybe joining the street party that Seoul held every year. Everyone was clapping and cheering, excitement clear on their faces, well everyone except Jisung, the group's resident scaredy cat. 

“Can't we just go treat or trick, or whatever it's called instead?” he asked with a pout.

“It's trick or treating, Sung,” Felix laughs, “and no, it’d be way less fun,” 

“You can't really be that scared, right?” Seungmin teases as he sees Jisung’s pout get bigger. 

“You'll be fine Sungie,” Chan reassures as he reaches over to press a comforting hand into the painted green skin on his legs where his jeans were ripped, “just remember, they’re all actors and if you really are that scared then we won't force you to go in,” 

“Zombies don't have enough braincells to be scared,” Jeongin points out, which has everyone laughing, even Jisung. 

They sit for a while longer, just enjoying each other's company before Woojin glances to the clock on their wall that always runs 5 minutes fast and decides that they should get going, knowing that most of the main roads will be closed so it’ll take even longer to get there.

“Who knew werewolves were so smart?” Minho teases as he helps to pull Seungmin and Woojin up from the couch, Seungmin just scoffs and walks away but Woojin rumbles a laugh and presses a kiss to Minho’s lips. 

It takes far longer to get out of the apartment and into the car than they’d planned, with most of the younger members forgetting that winter was fast approaching and that it was cold outside so they fumbled their way through the dorm trying to find coats that fit over their outfits without _‘ruining the vibe, Hyung,’_. So Seungmin decides to wait, telling the others they’ll meet them in the car, as he watches them all rush around the dorm clumsily trying to find seasonally appropriate clothes to wear. 

“Here,” Seungmin mumbles as he catches Hyunjin in his arms and pulls a black beanie over his head, adjusting it so that his makeup and temporarily green spray coloured hair is still seen. Hyunjin smiles at him, the red smudged lipstick he’s wearing making his smile even bigger than normal and Seungmin can't bring himself to hate it, any Hyunjin smile was his favourite even if this one was mildly unnerving. 

“Do you think I look okay?” Hyunjin asks him shyly and Seungmin rolls his eyes, why was it that Hyunjin was always the one most self-conscious about how he looked when he needn't be. Instead of answering Seungmin pulls Hyunjin in for a kiss and can't stop himself from smiling when he feels Hyunjin melt into it, his hands moving to wrap around his shoulders. 

When they break apart, Seungmin has to stop himself from smirking at how flushed Hyunjin looks under all the white makeup on his face, he’s pouting at Seungmin and when he quirks an eyebrow as if to ask what’s wrong? he pouts harder and mumbles, “I worked hard on my makeup, babe,” 

“I know,” Seungmin replies with a cheeky grin, “I just thought that your lipstick needed to be smudged a little more,” 

Hyunjin rolls his eyes but can't stop the smile that's breaking onto his lips, “that colour looks good on you too,” he bites his lips as he admires Seungmin, who catches on and quickly wipes away the remnants of Hyunjin’s red lipstick that's transferred to his own lips. 

“Okay, let's go,” Jeongin pipes up dragging a reluctant looking Jisung with him as he slips on his trainers and waits for the others to do the same. 

* * *

The journey to the fields just outside of the city took far longer than any of them would’ve liked. After getting caught up in traffic for over an hour with the same 5 spooky songs on repeat, Seungmin starts to wonder if this really was a good idea, after all, the strange and uncomfortable feeling that lurks in the back of his mind only getting stronger but he ignores it. The others still as excited as they were when he’d first brought up the idea, so he pushes away his own ugly and selfish feelings that have been clawing inside his stomach since the moment they’d left the safety and comfort of their dorm. He refused to be the one to ruin their fun by bringing down the mood, he’d been the one to suggest it after all.

“I bet Hyunjin-Hyung will start crying!” Jeongin laughs from the front of the car.

“Hey! I’m not actually..” Hyunjin tries to defend himself but comes up blank which only gets Jeongin to laugh harder. 

“Don't worry Jinnie, Felix and Changbinnie will cry too,” Minho pipes up, smirking at the two beside him as they start to splutter out their arguments. 

“What about Seungminnie?” Jisung says from somewhere in the middle of the car, Seungmin can't actually see him, “he acts all tough but I think he’ll get scared,”

“I think Seungmin’s braver than all of us,” Chan laughs from the driver's seat, “right Minnie?” 

“Uh... right,” Seungmin says, hating the way he hesitates, “they’re only actors, there's nothing to be scared of,” 

“There's no shame in being scared, y’know,” Woojin mumbles from beside him and Seungmin forces himself to look at him, unsure of how Woojin manages to read him so well. 

“I’m fine, Hyung, I helped plan this, I can't just bail out,” he tells him, linking their hands together. 

“If it's too much, you can,” Woojin reminds him, “its meant to be fun, Minnie,” 

The car lapses back into a subdued silence, the buzz of excitement just a quiet hum until Chan announced that they’re a few minutes away, and while the rest of the car erupts into excitable chatter, Seungmin feels the way his heart picks up, hammering against the cages in his chest. 

_‘Pull yourself together, everyone else is fine, there's no need to be so scared,’_ Seungmin scolds himself as he feels Woojin grip his hand tighter,_ ‘you can’t let them all down, not when they’re all so excited to go, you can't ruin their night because you're scared, it won't even be that bad, right?’ _

Wrong.

Seungmin feels his whole body freeze as he sees the huge, rickety house that stands before them, they’re in the middle of nowhere and all he can hear are screams and the shrill of chainsaws coming from inside the house and it takes everything inside him to not just bolt back into the car right then and there.

A woman greets them outside, an axe stuck into the side of her head and Seungmin doesn’t know why but it scares him but it does,_‘it's obviously fake,’_ he tells himself,_ ‘why are you freaking out over this?_he smiles politely at the woman as she flicks through the papers on her clipboard. 

“Welcome to Kang’s Farm and Haunted House!” she exclaims with a bright smile on her face, “I hope you brought another set of pants because you’re going to need them! Did you make a reservation?”

“Y-yes, um, under t-the name…” Seungmin stutters, hating himself more with each word he says.

“Hello yes, it's under the name Bang Chan, I believe,” Chan steps in and gently tucks Seungmin into his side as the woman searches for their name on the list, “scared already, Minnie?” Chan teases lightly as he leans in to kiss his forehead, “didn't think this sort of thing would frighten you,” 

“I-it doesn’t,” Seungmin protests though he's not sure why, it's blatantly obvious he's scared and yet he's still trying to hide it from them, he wishes for a moment that he could be like Jisung, openly scared of close to everything but easily able to laugh and joke around about it. 

“Well, you know it’s okay to bail out, I don’t wa-” 

“-Ah yes! Bang Chan, a reservation for 9 people?” She asks, cutting him off, though Seungmin finds himself desperately wanting to hear whatever it was that the elder was going to tell him, though he could probably guess. Instead, he just watches the way his warm breath mixes with the cold October air in pretty white swirls.

“That's the one! But we’re not sure if all 9 of us are brave enough to go in,” he laughs, eyes glistening with charisma and confidence that Seungmin wished he possessed. 

“Of course! That's no problem, come and find me when you’re ready to go in! You’ve got about ten minutes until your reservation time starts!” she says and happily skips off to greet a newly arrived group of teenagers, who look just as scared as Seungmin feels. 

Chan makes sure she’s fully out of sight before turning back to Seungmin who’s leaning heavily against him, and while Chan finds he enjoys the extra warmth, he doesn’t enjoy the worried feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, “you okay?” 

“Me? I’m fine, Hyung,” Seungmin replies almost too quickly. 

Seungmin ignores the doubtful look Chan gives him before turning back to the others, who are sitting on haystacks idly talking amongst themselves and swinging their legs around. Felix’s the first to notice the two approaching and smiles brightly at them and Seungmin figures that him dressing up as an angel was the right decision after all, not scary but really fucking cute.

“Ah, can we go in soon? It's so cold,” Felix asks, excitement clear in the way his eyes sparkle.

“I’m not sure that it's going to be much warmer inside the house ‘Lix,” Woojin says with a smile as he pulls the angel onto his lap, wrapping his arms around him, hoping to give him at least a little bit of his own warmth. 

“We have about ten minutes until we can go in,” Chan informs them, “everyone still okay to go?” 

He was met with various responses of “yes!”, “hell yeah!” and “we’re here now!”’s and Seungmin feels the dread continue to claw its way into his stomach, why did he ever think this was a good idea? 

“Seungmin?” Chan asks quietly. 

“I want to,” Seungmin whispers, still clinging onto Chan’s arm like a lifeline. 

“If you’re sure then I won't stop you,” Chan replies, his eyes flickering over to Changbin, who’s trying to console a shaky Jisung who looks like he’s on the brink of tears and Seungmin has to force down his sympathetic smile, he knew there was no way Jisung would make it beyond the threshold of the haunted house, but he was proud that he’d even made it this far.

“Sungie,” Chan calls softly, making his way over to the two boys, dragging Seungmin with him, “you don’t have to go in alright, its okay, baby,” 

Jisung's body slumps into Changbin’s in relief before stiffening up again, “but, Hyung..” he starts to protest, eyes turned downwards shyly, “everyone else is…” 

“That doesn't matter baby, I don't want you to end up panicking, alright? I'll stay behind with you yeah?” Chan comforts him, reaching out to run a hand over the boy's backcombed hair, trying to tease a few of the knots out.

“Are you sure Hyung?” Jisung worries at his bottom lip and Seungmin finds the nervous habit endearing. 

“It's fine, Sungie, I went to so many back in Australia and they get boring after a while,” he reassures the younger, “I think it’ll be good to hang back just in case anyone bails out,” 

Seungmin can feel Chan’s eyes fall on to him but he can't read too much into it as Hyunjin and Minho come scampering over, excitement clear on their faces. 

“All hands on deck!” he says as he slaps and squeezes both Seungmin and Chan’s asses, earning a loud laugh from Jisung, so Seungmin decides to let it slide, for now, knowing that he’ll get his own back on his Hyung later. 

“Let’s just go, before his puns get any worse,” Changbin teases as he jumps down from the haystack, letting Hyunjin steady him and drag him away towards the house, tugging Seungmin along with them before he has a chance to protest.

+++

“Hey, Hyunjin,” Seungmin calls lowly, right before they’re about to enter the haunted house, the woman who’d greeted them earlier now running them through the seemingly endless health and safety procedures that only make Seungmin feel worse. 

“What is it, Minnie?” even with Hyunjin’s soft voice Seungmin can't stop the way he’s shaking. 

“I'm scared,” he admits in a whisper.

“I know, baby,” Hyunjin tells him, “you’ve been anxious since we left,” 

Hyunjin slips his hand into Seungmin’s and gives it a firm squeeze as if to tell him_ ‘im here for you’ _

“D-don’t let go,” Seungmin says seriously, “I’ll kill you if you do,” 

“I won't,” Hyunjin promises softly. 

Seungmin feels Changbin’s hands slip around his waist and for once he’s glad of the contact from the older boy and lets himself be momentarily distracted by how cold his hands are as they seep through the thick fabric of his grey hoodie. He hears Minho and Jeongin laughing from somewhere behind them and Felix telling them to shut up, for a brief second Seungmin finds himself huffing a laugh but it quickly vanishes and is replaced with a feeling of nausea as the giant wooden doors creak open, loud music and flashing lights already overwhelming him.

_“This is it…”_ he tells himself as he takes the first step forward, _“too late to back out now…” _

He hates this.

He should've bailed out.

The screams. 

The sounds of chainsaws. 

The blood on the floor.

The actors reaching out to touch him. 

It's too much...

He can't do this, he can't, he can’t he can’t.

“You’re okay Minnie,” Changbin mumbles in his ear from behind him, giving his waist a small squeeze, “they can’t hurt you, baby,” 

He startles violently as yet another man jumps out at them, scarily real looking organs spilling everywhere as he laughs evilly making Seungmin’s blood run cold. He hates how he can hear Minho and Woojin laughing from way behind them. He knows they can’t hurt him, he knows they won't do anything, he knows they're just actors and that it's all fake but somewhere deep in his mind it's forcing him to wonder _‘what if it's not?’_ and that terrifies him.

They take several steps forward and end up in what looks like an abandoned hospital. There’s blood all over the walls and the floor along with discarded needles and equipment, there are patients in their beds screaming and begging him for help and Seungmin knows that it's getting to be too much for him.

A man with half of his face peeling off grabs at Seungmin’s shoulders and he thinks he almost blacks out in fright, as he begs for Seungmin to help him as he cackles wildly and continues to pull at his hoodie and suddenly he can’t breathe... 

“The fuck dude, back off!” he hears Changbin warn the man, as he tries to pull Seungmin out of his grip. 

The man eventually let's go and makes his way towards where Woojin, Minho, Felix and Jeongin are and he hears them laugh and scream at the man, nowhere as alarmed as he was and Seungmin doesn’t understand why. 

They keep walking and eventually make it out of the hospital room only for it to be replaced by a room filled with butchered people hanging from the ceiling and Seungmin thought he was going to be sick as one of the hanging people turned around and spoke to him, their eyes crazed as they shrill and scream at the top of their lungs and Seungmin feels it echo through him. 

He buries his head between Hyunjin’s shoulders and forces his eyes to stay closed as he whimpers a soft, “Jinnie…” 

He feels Changbin tighten his grip around him as he leans closer and presses a kiss to his cheek, “its alright Minnie, it's not real. Deep breaths for me, babe,” 

So Seungmin breathes, as best he can and lets Hyunjin lead him through the rest of the room, the screams and laughter making his heart hammer in his chest. He just wants to get out of there. 

“Please…” he begs, tears threatening to spill down his cheeks now, as it gets harder and harder to breathe, the world starting to close in around him as he starts to space out, the world and sounds fading away with every passing second, he didn't want this, not now.

“Alright Min, one moment,” he hears Hyunjin call from where he’s shifted in front of him protectively. 

He vaguely Hyunjin talking, his voice vibrating where his heads buried into his back, but he can't quite make out what he’s saying, so instead he focuses on Changbin sushing him over the chaos of sounds overwhelming him as he rubs at his sides. It's only then that he realises that he’s whimpering as ugly sobs threaten to escape his lips. 

“Shhh Minnie, you’re okay, you’re alright. We're getting you out of here, okay,” Changbin tells him, his voice soft like velvet and Seungmin wants to curl up in the comfort it brings. 

He feels Hyunjin pull him forward a few more steps and he blindly follows, listening as Changbin continues to whisper sweet nothings into his ear.

+++

Suddenly it's cold again, much colder than he had been a few moments ago and it's quieter too. Seungmin pulls his face away from its hiding place between Hyunjin’s shoulder blades and finds that they’re outside, no longer inside the haunted house. 

Chan looks up from where he's fiddling with Jisung’s fingers, the boy half asleep leaning against his shoulder, their leader's eyes immediately soften as he sees them approaching, Seungmin clinging almost desperately to Hyunjin and Changbin’s hands. 

“Oh Seungminnie,” he sighs as he catches sight of the red eyes and smudged makeup on Seungmin’s face. 

Seungmin wants to run over and collapse in the safety of their leader's arms but can't bring himself to move, his legs shaking enough to make it hard for him to stand without tumbling down onto the cold, wet grass beneath his feet.

“I-i, I was so scared Hyung, I shouldn’t have gone but I did and now I’ve ruined Hyunjinnie and Changbin-Hyung’s fun and….” he tries to explain but ends up bursting into a fit of tears, his knees growing weaker and weaker with each sob. 

Luckily Changbin catches him before he collapses to the muddy floor and holds him close to his chest as the taller boy curls up and clings onto him as sobs shake his body, finally letting out everything he’d built up over the past few hours as Hyunjin rubbed his back softly. 

“You didn't ruin our fun, baby,” Changbin reassures as he readjusts his grip to hold onto Seungmin as tight as he could without crushing him.

“You were so brave to even go in there,” Hyunjin tells him, “brave and stupid, you should’ve said you didn't want to go,” 

“B-but-” 

“But nothing Seungmin, baby,” Chan steps in, “it's dangerous to throw yourself in like that, especially when you already weren’t feeling up to it. I want you to tell us when you’re feeling anxious and unsettled like that,” 

“please don't hide from us,” Changbin almost begs and Seungmin feels his heart crack and fill with guilt. 

“I’m so sorry,” Seungmin cries and clings to Changbin tighter, his sobs having calmed down a little. 

“Silly, you have nothing to be sorry for,” Hyunjin smiles and leans in to kiss his tear-streaked cheeks, his pale makeup no longer covering his face. 

“Thank, thank you for getting me out of t-there,” he tries to joke despite himself, “it would’ve been gross if I passed out and got covered in fake blood or something,”

“It's no problem sweetheart, I’m sorry it took us so long to see you were struggling so much,” Hyunjin tells him, eyes filling with tears of his own. 

“Don’t you start crying too,” Jisung suddenly speaks, startling them all, “you’ll ruin your makeup, and then you won't look hot anymore,” 

“Wow, rude,” Hyunjin remarks, mood turning a whole 180, as he jokes back and forth with Jisung, though Seungmin can't bring himself to listen, too exhausted from the past hour so decides to focus on Changbin’s steady breathing.

“You sure you’re alright?” Changbin murmurs into his hair as he sways them from side to side, “your hearts still beating really fast,” Seungmin just nods keeping his head into his neck, revelling in the cologne left over there from hours ago, he presses a few kisses to the boy’s neck as he feels Changbin walking somewhere, though he doesn’t care where he knows he's welcome and safe in the boy's arms. 

He’s not sure how much time has passed but Seungmin can hear when the others return, Minho, Felix, Woojin and Jeongin shouting and laughing as they make fun of each others screams. 

“Ahh man that was so fun,” Felix laughs, slightly out of breath as he beams at the others, his hand clasped tightly in Minho’s. 

“We should do this every year!” Jeongin shouts, adrenaline still pumping through his body, “that was so scary, but Minho-Hyung’s screams were the scariest thing in there,” 

The others laugh as Minho runs at Jeongin threatening to strangle him but ends up just hanging off of him, “you tease Hyung here, but who was it that almost cried when that zombie jumped out of the walls?” 

“That was me” Seungmin admits shyly, letting a small laugh escape his lips despite the racing of his heart at the memory. 

The boys all scare at him in shock, before it's quickly replaced with sympathy.

“That was you?” Felix asks incredulously, “I thought it was one of the actors, I seriously got so scared,” 

“Hyung, should audition for next year,” Jeongin adds, “it really scared me too, I thought I was going to wet myself,” 

“Gross Jeonginnie,” Seungmin teases, “and there's no way I’d be stepping back in there, even if you paid me,”

The boys laugh softly as they move to stand closer to Seungmin, subconsciously or not Seungmin appreciates the gesture but before he can think to thank them he lets out a yawn, unable to hide how exhausted he is after his adrenaline crash and all that crying. 

“I think we should head home, leave the other things we’ve planned for next year,” Woojin says as he runs a hand through Seungmin’s hair. 

“it's too cold to stay outside any longer, I think my limbs will start to fall off,” Jisung agrees, tucking himself further into Chan’s coat. 

“Now that would be scary,” Minho laughs softly.

“Instant noodles and a scary movie sound really nice right now,” Felix admits as he leans into Hyunjin’s side. 

“It does,” Chan agrees, “you up for that Seungminnie?”

The silence that lapses over the group as they wait for him to reply makes his skin crawl, the focus was on him and it always makes him uncomfortable, though logically he knew that they were just worried about him. 

“As long as I can choose the film,” Seungmin smiles softly, happy that the suffocating tension immediately vanishes and is replaced by 8 happy faces grinning back at him.

* * *

“Seungmin give me back my blankets!” Minho threatens as he enters the lounge and places the three cups of instant noodles on the coffee table, “I won't hesitate, you know,” 

Seungmin just smiles and buries himself further into the soft grey blanket that smelt like Minho, like comfort, like home. Minho seems to realise that he wouldn’t be getting his blanket back any time soon and so sits down beside him and fishes for his hand and links it with his own as they wait for everyone else to rid themselves of their Halloween makeup.

They didn't have to wait too long before everyone was set up and ready to start the movie, hot cup noodles in their hands as they somehow all manage to squish onto the L-shaped sofa.

“Okay, can we actually start the movie now?” Jeongin asks as he watches Felix and Jisung reposition themselves for what seems like the tenth time already, both of them refusing to face the screen, instead deciding to amuse themselves with whatever was on Jisung’s phone. When their youngest's met with no sounds of protest he clicks play and the opening credits to the scary movie start playing on the TV in front of them. 

“Y’know,” Seungmin says a while later, “I much prefer scary things when they’re on the other side of the screen,”

He feels Woojin’s chest rumble in a laugh from where he’s leaned against him, blinking sleepily trying to keep himself awake long enough to see the end of the movie. They’d already lost Changbin, Jisung, Chan and Jeongin, who’d all fallen asleep shortly after the movie had started, but to no one's real surprise. It was a Halloween tradition after all. 

“Hey, Seungie?” Felix calls softly from the other side of Minho, eyes still comically avoiding the TV scene even though nothing frightening was happening at the moment, “I'm sorry we forced you to do that earlier,” 

“You didn't, I wanted to go,” Seungmin says, reaching out to rub his hand over Felix’s leg, where it's spread across Minho’s lap. 

“I much prefer this to the haunted house anyway, even though I hate scary films” Felix mumbles sleepily, “maybe we should just create our own traditions instead of following along with everyone else's,” 

“I'd like that,” Hyunjin comments before Seungmin has the chance to agree and he can't stop himself from smiling, he’d always been stupidly sentimental like that and it makes Seungmin’s heart squeeze, unable to contain how much love he held for each of the boys in this room. 

“Hey, Jinnie,” Seungmin whispers when Felix’s goes back to hiding his face in a cushion as the film climaxes. When Hyunjin cranes his neck upwards to look at him from where he’d moved to sit on the floor, his eyes immediately softening as he waits for him to continue, “thank you for protecting me earlier, I really wasn’t okay even though I tried to be and you stepped in and helped me get out of there...” 

“I love you,” is all that Hyunjin says and lets the silence lapse over the half-awake boys as the film continued to play in the background, though Seungmin couldn’t find it in himself to pay attention much longer, his eyelids steadily getting heavier and heavier. 

He wakes momentarily when he feels movement to his left, a warmth being removed from his body, he cracks an eye open and sees a dead asleep Jisung getting lifted by Woojin as he carries him to bed. His eyes follow them out of the room before turning to Minho who’s smiling softly at him as he runs his hands through his hair and Seungmin knows what's coming before it even happens. 

“No way,” he says, forcing his panicked smile down as Minho’s lips curl into a mischievous grin, one that Seungmin secretly loves, “there's no way you’re carrying me to bed, you’ll drop me,” 

“There's no trust in this relationship,” Minho says as he swoops down and scoops Seungmin into his arms with ease, ignoring his protests and panicked squealing, “you know I won’t drop you, unless you want me to,” he threatens with a sly grin as he loosens his grip on Seungmin, who laughs and squeals quietly as he clings to him tighter.

Seungmin gives up and lets himself be carried back to Minho’s bed, too tired to think up a cunning plan to get Minho to put him down, but also because he doesn’t mind sleeping with Minho on occasion, despite what he tells himself. 

“Sure you’re okay to go to sleep after earlier?” Minho teases, though Seungmin hears the undercurrent of worry, the unsaid, I’ll stay up with you if you can't sleep, and Seungmin appreciates it more than he lets on as he nods against the dancers firm chest, “you should’ve said something, you know, I hate when you hide things like this. We won't tease you for it despite what you think,” 

“I know,” Seungmin whispers, “thank you, Hyung,” 

“Goodnight Minnie,” Minho says softly as he presses a kiss above the boy's eyebrow and another one to his lips, “my treasure,” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I originally wasn’t going to post this because of the heartbreaking news earlier this week but I decided that i’d publish it anyway and hope that it maybe cheers someone up a little bit. 
> 
> Some of you were curious if I was going to include Woojin in my next pieces of work and I’ve decided that I will continue to write and include Woojin in my stories because excluding him just feels so wrong. 
> 
> Anyway love y’all and I hope you’re taking care of yourselves, if you never need to talk about anything my Twitter dm is always open @ uljimasvt ♡


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